This book examines the impact and shortcomings of the TRIPS Agreement, which was signed in Marrakesh on 15 April 1994. Over the last 20 years, the framework conditions have changed fundamentally. New technologies have emerged, markets have expanded beyond national borders, some developing states have become global players, the terms of international competition have changed, and the intellectual property system faces increasing friction with public policies.

The contributions to this book inquire

into whether the TRIPS Agreement should still be seen only as part of an

international trade regulation, or whether it needs to be understood - or even reconceptualized

as a framework regulation for the international protection of intellectual

property. The purpose, therefore, is not to define the terms of an outright revision of the

TRIPS Agreement but rather to discuss the framework conditions for an interpretative evolution

that could make the Agreement better suited to the expectations and needs of today's global

economy.